Democrats are increasingly antsy over the lineup President-elect Donald Trump has announced for his Cabinet, but they are also powerless to do very much to stop him — thanks to their own leader, Sen. Harry Reid. It’s unlikely Mr. Reid had a President Trump in mind when he pulled the so-called “nuclear option” trigger three years ago, changing Senate rules to eviscerate the use of a filibuster to block presidential nominees. Set up to help President Obama’s picks overcome GOP opposition, those same rules now will clear the path for Sen. Jeff Sessions to become the new attorney general, Rep....

We should probably think of this as an exercise in managing our expectations heading into next yearâ€™s congressional battles. Two days after the election I posed a question to the Republican Party leadership: weâ€™ve given you control of the entire federal government. Now what will you do with it? The answer will largely depend on what happens in the Senate. Trump can, if he wishes, undo many of Obamaâ€™s executive actions with the stroke of a pen and Republicans will largely control what bills come up for a vote in both the House and Senate. But activity in the...

Republicans are vowing that President Trump’s appointment of a Supreme Court Justice to replace the late Justice Scalia will be confirmed no matter what Democrats do. Politico reports the unspoken threat underlying the GOP’s confidence is that, if necessary, they can end the Senate filibuster for confirmation: Republicans won’t come out and say it, but there’s an implicit threat in their confidence: If Democrats play things the wrong way, they might find themselves on the wrong end of a legacy-defining change to Senate rules that scraps the chamber’s 60-vote threshold to confirm Supreme Court nominees. “We’re going to confirm the...

Come January, Republicans will control all three branches of government, but with only 52 Republicans in the Senate. That will not give them the 60 needed to break a Democrat filibuster. Appearing on various Sunday talk shows, Schumer was asked if Senate Democrats will filibuster Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, whoever it may be. “I would hope first and foremost that President Trump nominates a mainstream nominee capable of getting bipartisan support,” Schumer told Fox News Sunday.“If he does, then we’ll give it just a very, very thorough vetting, but we won’t ipso facto say no. If it’s out of the...

Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he wants President-elect Trump to select a "mainstream" candidate to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Asked by NBC on Sunday whether he was comfortable filibustering any Trump nominee for the court, Schumer dodged answering the question directly. "I hope that President Trump picks a mainstream candidate," Schumer said. "A mainstream candidate is somebody you may not agree with on every issue, but basically believes in precedent." NBC's Chuck Todd interrupted Schumer and asked, "What does that mean? Can he nominate somebody in your mind...

Senate Democrats are not going to be able to block Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions bid to become attorney general. And they can’t do much to stop Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo from assuming the helm of the CIA. And they have only themselves to thank for it. That’s because exactly three years ago, the Democratic Senate majority — led by Harry Reid (Nev.) — rammed through controversial rules fundamentally changing the way the Senate does business. They unleashed in November 2013 what’s called the “nuclear option” allowing senators to approve by a simple majority all presidential appointments to the executive branch...

A senate rule change championed by outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid could leave Democrats powerless to stop any of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments. In 2013, Sen. Reid and other Democrats pushed forward with a rule change dubbed the “nuclear option” to eliminate filibusters for all presidential nominations except Supreme Court justices. This means that a simple majority of 51 votes instead of 60 votes is necessary to confirm executive office appointments. The Republicans are set to enter 2017 with at least 51 senators and can gain another seat with a likely win in the December senate run-off race...

Senate Democrats are not going to be able to block Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions bid to become attorney general. And they can’t do much to stop Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo from assuming the helm of the CIA. And they have only themselves to thank for it. That’s because exactly three years ago, the Democratic Senate majority — led by Harry Reid (Nev.) — rammed through controversial rules fundamentally changing the way the Senate does business. They unleashed in November 2013 what’s called the “nuclear option” allowing senators to approve by a simple majority all presidential appointments to the executive branch...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hinted Wednesday that he doesn’t support the controversial idea of changing Senate rules to kill Democratic filibusters, and instead indicated that this move might be seen as an overreach by Republicans. When Democrats ran the Senate, they changed the rules to allow for simple majority votes for judicial nominees, but not Supreme Court nominees, which can still be filibustered. But despite speculation that Republicans will take this next step, McConnell indicated some resistance to it when asked. He said “overreaching after an election, generally speaking, is a mistake.” And when pressed on McConnell’s approach to...

In her Saban Forum speech today, Hillary Clinton announced that if Iran breaks Obama's deal that the USA must keep the Nuclear Option on the table. Justice Breyer interjects, "correcting" her to say that the "Military Option" must remain on the table. The news media runs only the Breyer version, scrubbing Hillary's "Nuclear Option" quote...editing her speech to say "Military Option" instead of what she actually uttered.

Trump gave a great statement today to MSNBC about the Iran deal, saying Obama negotiated from desperation, that we shouldn’t be giving Iran any money, and that we should have at least gotten back our four Americans being held in prison in Iran. Trump says the deal is terrible, because without immediate inspections, we’ve got nothing and the Iranians know it.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) attempt to pass an amendment to halt President Obama's Iran deal by demanding the release of four American hostages in Iran and to recognize Israel's right to exist has been rejected by Democrats. Senators voted 53-45 on an amendment from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that would have prevented President Obama from lifting sanctions on Iran until the country releases American prisoners and publicly recognizes Israel's right to exist. Sixty votes were needed to move forward. Many conservatives have argued that the Obama administration is putting Israel's security at risk by giving Iran a...

WASHINGTON - Democrats in the US Senate blocked a last-ditch effort by Republicans on Thursday to add new conditions before President Barack Obama can waive any sanctions under the Iran nuclear deal. After Obama's fellow Democrats in the Senate twice blocked a disapproval resolution meant to kill the nuclear agreement, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced an amendment to the measure that would bar the president from lifting sanctions on Iran unless it recognized Israel's right to exist and released American prisoners. The vote was 53-45, meaning the measure failed to attract the 60 votes it would need to...

The Senate stands adjourned until 10:00am on Thursday, September 17, 2015. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of H.J.Res.61, the legislative vehicle for the Congressional disapproval of the proposed Iran nuclear agreement, with the time until 11:00am equally divided between the two Leaders or their designees. At 11:00am, there will be up to 3 roll call votes: Motion to invoke cloture on McConnell amendment #2656 (hostages and Israel’s right to exist); if cloture is not invoked, then Motion to invoke cloture on McConnell amendment #2640 (Iran nuclear agreement resolution of disapproval); if cloture is not invoked, then...

Multiple House Republicans want Senate leaders to “go nuclear” over the Obama administration’s deal with Iran now that Democrats have stymied efforts to derail the accord by conventional means. A small but growing number of GOP lawmakers say that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should invoke the “nuclear option” to change Senate rules and prevent a filibuster on a resolution to kill the deal. Their angst is intensified by their belief that Democrats will likely be able to block legislation withholding federal funds from Planned Parenthood, a standoff that increases the chances of a government shutdown. Less than two...

Dozens of House Republican lawmakers are making a late stab at pressuring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to abandon the filibuster on legislation to block the nuclear deal with Iran. A total of 57 House lawmakers signed on to a letter led by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) telling McConnell that blocking the deal was “simply so consequential” that it demanded a change to the Senate’s rules, known as invoking the "nuclear option." “Our request to eliminate the filibuster for some votes simply underscores that in a democracy the majority should decide,” they wrote. “The super-majority now required to advance legislation...

Last week, the Congress began debate on President Obama’s nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Many questions have been raised about the wisdom of the deal, including the lack of verifiability of the inspection regime, the release of over $150 billion that will help fund its ongoing terrorist activities, the secret codicils that the United States is not privy to, the lifting of sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile program, and the bellicose words of Iran’s supreme leader, who has continued to openly reject the terms of the deal as the president moves forward with its implementation. As expected,...

President Obama has earned enough Democratic votes in the Senate to filibuster a Senate effort to block the Iran nuclear deal, if necessary. On Monday, Sens Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) , Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) , and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) announced their support for the deal, tallying enough votes to successfully filibuster the deal. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced his opposition to the deal in a surprise defection from Obama, citing Iran’s support of terrorism and the death of American soldiers. “This regime has shown no signs that its deplorable behavior will change, and this deal does nothing to...

In the sad, soul-cratered world of desperation politics, size matters. It really, really matters. And nowhere does size matter more than inside the distortion machine that is our national political media.

Senate conservatives couldn’t stop a vote on the Export-Import bank. So they’re going to try to force a vote on Obamacare instead. Conservative firebrand Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) announced on Friday that he plans to use a complicated procedural maneuver known as the nuclear option to repeal the Affordable Care Act with just 51 votes. Democrats famously used the strategy in 2013 to break a Republican blockade of President Obama’s nominees to fill judicial openings. Now Lee wants to use the partisan procedure get rid of Obamacare. It’s unclear whether Lee’s gambit will work — but if it does, there...

"An inspector general called them courageous, but Sen. Harry Reid said Friday that the government whistleblowers who accused him of using political pressure to try to win special treatment for a Las Vegas casino were “a bunch of whiners.” ........[Homeland Security Inspector General John] Roth said the special treatment was brought to his attention by more than 15 whistleblowers — an extraordinary number, in Mr. Roth’s judgment — who believed Mr. Mayorkas was caving to political pressure. “That so many individuals were willing to step forward and tell us what happened is evidence of deep resentment about Mr. Mayorkas‘ actions...

Call it the mysterious case of the Incredible Shrinking GOP. Barely one month ago, the party sailed to victory in one of the biggest rout election waves of the past century. They ran the board and took control of the U.S. Senate. They grew to historic levels in the U.S. House. The Democratic Party was left in tatters in state, local, and governor races across the country. But today, just a few weeks later, before GOPers even take hold of their new reins of power, the party is crying poverty. They are stricken with paralysis. House Speaker John A. Boehner,...

Poised to take over the Senate next month, Republicans may well keep weaker filibuster rules that they angrily denounced Democrats for muscling through the chamber a year ago. GOP senators remain divided on the issue, and it is uncertain what will happen when they discuss it Tuesday behind closed doors. But several Republicans said they think they will stick with the Democratic-imposed old threshold that a simple majority of votes can end filibusters against most nominations, instead of reviving the tougher 60-vote standard that lasted four decades before it was scuttled last November. […] Retaining the weaker standard would likely...

If you're looking for a good laugh this week, you probably can't do better than Tuesday's White House press conference. Reporters asked spokesman Josh Earnest about the confirmation of two Obama-appointed ambassadors whose confirmation was only possible because Democrats manipulated Senate rules earlier this year to make it easier to approve executive-branch nominees. By the narrowest of margins, two people completely unqualified to represent U.S. interests abroad were confirmed to serve in relatively important countries they know nothing about. Colleen Bell, the new U.S. ambassador to Hungary, is a former soap opera producer who couldn't name a single strategic interest...

Under pressure from a large faction of rank-and-file members, Senate Republican leaders are warming to the idea of keeping the rule change known as the “nuclear option” that Democrats imposed to end filibusters of nominations. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who will become majority leader in January, is leaving the decision to the will of his members, and at least half of them currently oppose reversing course, said GOP aides close to the discussions. The leadership team this week began signaling that the new rule, which reduced the number of votes needed to cut off confirmation filibusters...

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson, officer safety is the number one issue, after two of his officers fired nine rounds into a shoplifter. Is a police officer's number one job really to protect himself and his partner? Really?

The Democrats’ majority in the Senate is on the line this election season, and if Republicans take back control, the GOP will need to decide on new rules for the new Congress in the upper chamber. Some Republican members are willing to go back to way things were before Harry Reid took the gavel. In the wake of the recent controversial nomination of Judge David Barron, author of the memo which gave a legal basis to kill Americans abroad with drones, to the first U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Republicans became apoplectic after getting word that Senate Majority Leader Harry...

Not even Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. could convince an in-cycle Senate Democrat from his home state to switch his vote and support embattled Department of Justice nominee Debo P. Adegbile. In the view of Democratic optimists, Biden had made a rare and impromptu appearance at the Capitol on Wednesday to cast a potential tie-breaking vote for Adegbile. But in reality, Biden served as the last-ditch salesman from the administration, futilely chatting up members such as Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., inside the Senate chamber. Coons was one of seven Democrats to join Republicans to block Adegbile from being the...

".............Reid’s tight control of the amendments process has become a point of contention in the debate over unemployment benefits, which he’d like to extend without providing funding for the program. After signaling that he would not allow any Republican amendments on a bill to temporarily extend the benefits, Reid appears to be backing down, however begrudgingly. “I am open to considering a reasonable number of relevant amendments to [the bill], if that’s what it takes to end Republican obstruction,” he said Monday on Twitter. Allowing a “reasonable number of relevant amendments” from the minority party has not always been considered...

[w/video] Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is dismayed that “every single Democrat senator goes in line and docilely agrees” with the Obama administration, claiming the president’s abuse of authority and ever-expanding powers should be challenged by lawmakers in both parties. Cruz spoke with Fox News’ Shannon Bream on Sunday about President Barack Obama’s increasing authority at the expense of Congress, particularly after Senate Republicans were blocked from filibustering judicial nominees through the “nuclear option.” Bream asked the senator if “stacking courts” is a presidential right and whether Republicans would be objecting if one of their own was in the White...

We’ve heard a lot about Harry Reid’s “Nuclear Option” to kill any power Senate Republicans might have thought they had. Now we face the threat of John Boehner using the House version of the “Nuclear Option” which he will likely sneak into law during a marathon Friday night/Saturday morning session as a last ditch weapon to keep the TEA party from gaining power and saving America from people like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCoC). The (USCoC) is determined to help Barack Obama and his Democrats destroy America. It has pledged to spend and spend some more to defeat TEA...

Senate Republicans will stage a more than 30-hour talkathon on the Senate floor to protest Democrats’ triggering of the "nuclear option" last month. The GOP protest, which could extend into the weekend, will throw a wrench in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) hopes of wrapping up legislative business for 2013 as soon as possible. Republicans will delay a final vote on Cornelia Pillard, one of President Obama’s picks for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, until about 1 a.m. Thursday. Then, Senate Republicans will hold the floor throughout the night, speaking out against Reid’s use of the nuclear option....

Democrats are ready to propel another one of President Barack Obama’s court picks through the Senate, now that outnumbered Republicans have less power to block the president’s nominees than they used to. The Democratic-led chamber planned Wednesday to consider Obama’s choice of Cornelia “Nina” Pillard to join the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. That debate was allowed after senators voted 56-42 on Tuesday to end GOP delays that had prevented a vote on her confirmation. Her approval was expected in the next day or so. …

Nuclear Option: The first spoil of Harry Reid's shredding of the Senate's historic filibuster rules has been confirmed to the D.C. Circuit. Patricia Millett is another radical activist masquerading as judge. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1990, now-Vice President Joseph Biden threw a fit after it was clear David Souter was going to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, warning the first Bush administration that no more "stealth" nominees would be getting through. Liberals threw an even bigger fit the next year when Clarence Thomas told Biden's committee he had no "personal opinion on the outcome in...

Liberals took the nuclear option in 2013 and there may be no return to civil discourse. I'm not talking about curtailing Senate filibusters, although they did that, too, but to the shameful escalation in political rhetoric. Tired of calling conservatives "extreme," "greedy" or "heartless," and having overplayed more creative invectives like "tea-bagger," liberal pundits and politicians took the ad hominem argument to a new low this year. During the Obamacare funding debate, Democrats called their rivals "anarchists," "arsonists," "extortionists," "jihadists," and "kidnappers," words normally associated with criminal activity. They had not quite hit bottom, however. A month later, former MSNBC...

Noting that “the nuclear option in the Senate, invoked with the full backing of the [Obama] administration, will further accelerate the regulatory avalanche,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue warned Tuesday that the American economy “will remain at a virtual standstill until we cut this thicket of regulations and streamline the permitting process” that is “costing jobs and growth.” … Noting that the cost of regulations already on the books is “roughly equal to the entire GDP of Canada,” Donohue told business executives and reporters in a speech at the Chamber’s Washington headquarters that the “stifling uncertainty” created by...

With the “nuclear option” in place, President Barack Obama needs only 51 votes to see his executive and judicial nominations brought to a vote. Liberals are seizing the opportunity, pushing Obama to nominate people with a left-of-center ideology, The Hill reports. Senate Democrats invoked the “nuclear option” on Nov. 21, changing the rule that 60 votes were needed to bring judicial or executive nominees to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote. With only 55 members on their side, Democrats had been unable to prevent Republican filibusters. …

For all the gnashing of teeth over the lack of comity and civility in Washington, the real problem is not etiquette but the breakdown of political norms, legislative and constitutional. Such as the one just spectacularly blown up in the Senate... The violence to political norms here consisted in how that change was executed. By brute force — a near party-line vote of 52 to 48 . This was a disgraceful violation of more than two centuries of precedent. If a bare majority can change the fundamental rules that govern an institution, then there are no rules. Senate rules today...

A federal appeals judge fears last week’s change in Senate filibuster rules will harm the judiciary because it will become easier for ideologues to win approval to the bench. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III expressed his views in a Washington Post op-ed. “Now, even those with the most rigid and absolute beliefs can spend a lifetime on the federal bench without a scintilla of bipartisan support,” Wilkinson writes. “Ideologues pose a unique risk for courts...Taking disagreements personally, believing oneself in sole and permanent possession of the truth can, in countless ways, delay dispositions and corrode the quality of justice..."

Republican Mark Obenshain is trailing Democrat Mark Herring for attorney general by 164 votes. Obenshain could win with as few as 71 — with not a single one cast by an ordinary Virginian. It is a nuclear option that takes the election out of the hands of the electorate. Obenshain could initiate what state law calls a “contest” in which the 140-member legislature decides the attorney generalship by a majority vote. That would be a minimum of 71. They shouldn’t be too difficult for Obenshain to round up. There are 87 Republican legislators. Many of them don’t like one bit...

It is time for the public to assess the condition of our republic as founded by our forefathers and framed within the US Constitution. Our fellow citizens have watched President Obama rule by decree through executive powers as he side stepped Congress. President Obama’s lawlessness shines as he ignores statutory federal laws at whim. Obama declared Obamacare the law of the land, but he unconstitutionally makes changes to the law to benefit his political agenda. The latest outrage is the highly political suspension of the 2015 enrollment window by one month, just past the 2014 elections. The US Constitution under...

(CNN) - Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh used an analogy about rape Friday to blast this week’s decision by the Senate's Democratic majority to change the chamber’s filibuster rules despite the unanimous opposition of minority Republicans. The so-called “nuclear option” will allow a bare majority of senators – as opposed to 60 - to approve most judicial and executive branch nominations. The Democratic caucus controls 55 of the chamber’s 100 seats. "Let's say, let's take 10 people in a room and they're a group. And the room is made up of six men and four women. The group...

“...I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires....” F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Senate Rule XXII has “guided and protected the chamber since 1789.” It was last revised in 1975 following a rancorous debate that lasted months, not minutes, to require three-fifths of the entire Senate, or 60 votes, to end a filibuster.Oh sure, there has been some noisy posturing from both sides of the aisle from time to time about changing this. Butt until last week nobody was brave, or stupid enough, to actually launch the nuclear option. Primarily because,...

President Barack Obama said Thursday that he supports Senate Democrats’ dramatic action to change the chamber’s rules for presidential nominees, saying "enough is enough" when it comes to gridlock on Capitol Hill. "The vote today, I think, is an indication that a majority of senators believe as I believe that enough is enough," Obama said at the White House. "The American people’s business is far too important to keep falling prey day after day to Washington politics." Decrying the past "abuse of arcane procedural tactics" to block legislation and nominations, Obama conceded that neither party is blameless in creating gridlock...

As President Obama said, they got away with it. Harry Reid and the Democrat-controlled Senate got away with changing the Senate’s rules so that they can shove through anything they want without having to worry about Republicans filibustering against it. Just a few short years ago, then-Senator Obama spoke forcefully against doing what Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) just did. When Republicans talked about a similar rule change in 2005, Obama said (emphasis added): I urge my Republican colleagues not to go through with changing these rules. In the long run, it is not a good result for either party....

In the wake of Harry Reid using the nuclear option in the Senate, Republicans need to take the gloves off and go to war. Reid chose to upend over 200 years of precedent and rewrite the rules so that a simple majority can now approve judicial appointees. The way that the Democrats have been squawking, you would think that the Republicans had stifled every single one of the judicial appointments picked by Obama. The truth is that the vast majority of nominations are confirmed. The sticking point is that three appointments to the US Court of Appeals in the District...

Democrats and abortion activists are gleefully cheering a vote Senate Democrats took today to abolish the filibuster. The immediate effect of the vote is that Senate Democrats can quickly approve pro-abortion nominees President Barack Obama has sent forward for lower courts. But, are there unintended consequences? One unintended consequence is that future sessions of the Senate, controlled by Republicans, could eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees and a nominee who could be the deciding vote to overturn Roe v. Wade could be confirmed. The Supreme Court is generally thought to be divided 5-4 in favor of Roe at this...

Well. . . Harry Reid has gone nuclear. Yesterday the Senate, with cheerleading from Democrats in the House of Representatives and our honesty-deprived White House, passed a rule that would strip the minority party of its right to filibuster most Presidential nominees. The move itself (known as the “nuclear option”) usurps the Senate’s traditional eye toward minority rights, and dismantles the republican form of deliberation for which the Senate is known. The truly audacious part of the Senate Democrat’s power grab, however, was their blatant hypocrisy. After all, in 2005 they voted against this very rule change. Now don’t...

Matt Bevin condemned the unprecedented power play by Harry Reid in the U.S. Senate today. When the Administration’s D.C. Circuit Court packing was challenged, Harry Reid and liberals in the Senate didn’t just bypass the rules, they eliminated them. Further, Mitch McConnell failed as a leader in this fight to stop the blatant disregard for the rules. Perhaps it is because this DC insider has a long history of voting for the appointment of liberal judges, or because he’s been also had a history of “filibuster flip-floppery.” Whatever the excuse, he is in good company. Meanwhile, Democrat candidate Alison Lundergran...

Harry Reid just made President Obama a lame duck. With his triggering of the "nuclear option", he nuked any chances for any of Obama's legislative priorities through the 2014 elections. Immigration "reform" - Tax reform - Any other Democrat priority -